Round One is Over and We Still Don't Have a Budget

So the big news in Virginia is that the state legislature adjourned sine die without producing a budget document. Accounts indicate that this is the first time the legislature has failed to even make basic progress on the budget in anyone’s memory, and too little has been said about this basic failure of government to take care of its primary task – keeping the basic services we expect and pay for functioning in a smooth way. The Patch today reported that the legislature found time for 88% of their scheduled agenda, but they couldn’t find time for the most importance piece of legislation.  

 I’ve always liked the idea of smaller government and less interference in our lives from both Washington, DC and Richmond, VA. I generally like the idea of less regulation in our daily lives, and eliminating laws that do nothing other than cost us money without solving any of the real problems Americans deal with on a daily basis. I’ll admit I fell for Governor McDonnell’s rhetoric when he told voters he would focus on the economy. “Bob’s for jobs” was catchy and spoke directly to my number one priority for the Commonwealth. I had hope for Virginia and our future, believing we were headed in the right direction. I was wrong, and this most recent legislative session proved it to me.

The legislature had time to pass multiple versions of bills requiring women who want to have an abortion to have an ultrasound. But they didn’t have time to pass a budget.

The legislature had time to pass a Voter ID law which will almost certainly be struck down by the Federal Department of Justice in violation of the Voters’ Rights Act. They even made this their first priority (SB 1). But they didn’t have time to pass a budget.

The legislature managed to approve three separate bills providing easier access to handguns. But they didn’t have time to pass a budget.

The legislature managed to pass a bill to allow private adoption agencies to turn away parents based on religious and moral beliefs. But they didn’t have time to pass a budget.

The legislature endlessly debated how many members of each party should be on each committee. But they didn’t have time to pass a budget. 

The legislature had plenty of time for childish partisan squabbling and a focus on social issues that do little more than energize everyone’s base for the upcoming elections. But they didn’t have time to pass a budget.

Were these major problems? There are any number of problems with our nation and with our state, but where do any of these issues place on that list? Will education be improved by any of these bills? Will any of these bills create jobs? What about the stated goals of improving transportation? Is there some massive amount of actual voter fraud I’m not aware of (not the imagined numbers I read about that are little more than outdated voter rolls)? How many of these bills expanded the size of government despite the mandate to shrink the bureaucracy and get Richmond less involved in our daily lives?  Or are these all side drains to the real issues we are facing as Virginians as America continues its anemic recovery, our universities remain woefully underfunded and struggling to face the challenges of the 21^st century, yet the deficit keeps ballooning?

The momentum seems to be with the budget, and I’m confident that this will ultimately be a minor inconvenience and a minor story. But there’s a bigger failure here of our politicians – they were elected with the promise of job creation. They were elected with the promise of making government work better and pushing for “good government” initiatives. They were elected to perform certain basic functions in a timely fashion. They were unable to do that because of silly partisan bickering and a focus on social issues that do little more than to energize everyone’s base for the upcoming elections so the state legislators and senators can maintain their power. They were unable to do that because instead of governing they were too busy replicating the gridlock and partisan childishness that we’ve become far too used to up in Washington. It will all ultimately work out and they’ll be back at work next week, but I can only look with apprehension to the next partisan realignment in VA when the Democrats spend the first session of their new term repealing all these bills and Republicans employ the same obstructionist techniques the Democrats did this time.  We’ve started down a bad path, but we still don’t have a budget.